Global Environmental Baseline Monitoring Survey GEMS-Over a Decadeof Results Oriented,Monitoring and Assessing the Oil Industry Impacts onthe Deep Offshore Environment Case Study: Block 17-Girassol field

摘要

The aim of this paper is to present TOTAL E&P Angola(subsidiary of TOTAL in Angola,hereaftermentioned as"Affiliate")last environmental monitoring campaign.The document presents the strategyand summarizes the results of indicators which are used to follow up cumulative impacts on deep waterenvironment.The campaign was performed between 1998 and 2015,and different laboratories were used.The impact of field operations proved to be rather low or negligible,and acceptable on the long term.Since February 1998,when the first environmental baseline study(EBS)was performed(in Block 17:Girassol)to describe the initial state of the environment,the Affiliate has been conducting regular offshoremonitoring campaigns with the aim of characterizing the water column,and marine sediments aroundexisting installations and developing fields.These surveys are not limited to Block 17,but also extend toother Affiliate offshore blocks in Angola.In March 2015,the Affiliate's most demanding Global Environmental Baseline & Monitoring Survey(GEMS)was completed,which covered six different offshore blocks,with a work scope ranging betweenEBS and EMoS(environmental monitoring survey),comprising 226 sampling stations for sediment andbenthic macrofauna,26 for seawater,17 for phytoplankton and 8 for foraminifera.Another specificity ofthis latest GEMS was the scientific vessel that was shared among Operators through a joint agreement,ofcourse with some legal and operational constraints considering the socio-geographic context of the project.Technically,besides the Affiliate's required guidelines and rules,the parameters to be tested also had tomeet recent regulations from the Ministry of Petroleum.Physico-chemical and biological data obtained overthe past 17 years have been used as indicators of environment quality,and its regular monitoring allowsassessment of the sensitivity of the marine environment to petroleum activities.